On the Friday after the World Trade Center fell, I was in Geneva, Switzerland, attending what was billed as a “silent” march. Citizens of the world came together there in Geneva to show solidarity with we devastated Americans. We walked la Place des Naçions, through the area of Geneva that is home to a dozen or so international organizations. Organizations that promote peace, international cooperation, and help for our fellow man.

United Nations, Geneva Switzerland.(Google Image)

That day, people from every country on the planet, it seemed, marched to show their opposition to the hatred that attacked America and destroyed the towers.

Flags of the United Nations, Geneva(Google Image)

But it was anything but the “silent” march planned. Instead, I was surrounded by thousands of voices, speaking in sympathy, in harmony, in defiance of evil. The voices spoke in a thousand languages in righteous anger and solidarity.

It was the sound of peace.

I hadn’t heard that sound of peace again until last night.

Sometimes I forget that some of my ancestors came from other lands with other languages. Sometimes we all forget that we are a nation of immigrants. A nation that was built on the blood, sweat, tears and dreams of people from everywhere.

But we should never do that. There are things we as Americans can never forget. And the sound of voices singing one of our most cherished American songs, in whatever language they speak, and with whomever they love, is one of the most positive things that we should never forget.

71 responses to “The Sounds of Peace”

I loved this commercial – it expressed something so precious, that it is the people in America that make America beautiful. We are all immigrants. To those who hated it, it’s purely hypocritical. Hating this is like hating what makes us Americans.

I’m so glad to hear someone take something positive from this commercial. The negative reactions I have been reading and hearing actually shocked me. I don’t know why. I suppose at his point it should be expected from ignorance.
Thank you for speaking up for the true spirit of the piece.

I have noticed this a lot lately. There have been several very strong “rants” lately from people that have surprised me. I’m not sure what their stats are but you can see that their following numbers are up and their comments go from 20 to multiple hundreds. I have been watching and reading and liken it to a mob mentality. I am very disappointed.

I didn’t watch the commercial but I definitely agree with your sentiments and find it repulsive that we live among such bigots. My program at work is airing a bilingual spot that I helped work on – in English and Spanish. The Dept. of H&W got a letter from an outraged citizen who complained that we were discriminating against the 200 other languages spoken in Idaho (Spanish is the predominant second language spoken here). It was a roundabout way to say that the commercial should only have been in English. Then he threatened us with a lawsuit. We live in a nation of nut cases. I’m glad Coca Cola did this – it definitely shows us, though, that we have a lot of work to do here in our country to achieve tolerance.

I work in litigation, and have had some silly cases — I always tell folks I’m working with that in America, anybody can sue anybody over any thing. It’s a blessing and a curse! But this guy? Perhaps you should have suggested that the office was going to do print editions to send to the households speaking the other 200 languages — at taxpayer expense. It might have shut him up for a while.

Why do people care? Why do they forget where they came from. It is so maddening!!

I had not seen that. Thanks for sharing, Elyse. Amazing how great a country you guys live in. We have so many different people too – it makes us who we are as a nation now, and we are proud of it. It sounds like you are too.

Actually, the minute I heard the Spanish I knew it was going to lead some folks to show their true (lack of) colors. But I was thinking that there must have been two commercials, because I didn’t catch the gay parents. The gay guys are just a part of the whole thing. No sign points to them as being “different”. As it should be.

I don’t drink soda, but I am going to buy myself some Coke this week in honor of that touching, lovely tribute. Anyone who fails to appreciate that song fails to understand the first thing about what it means to be American, and what it means to be human.
I say we vote them off the island……

I very much liked the commercial too. Then I read in the papers this morning how far righters are trashing the commercial and Coke. My guess is almost all of the negatives are from people whose ancestors came here speaking another language.

Moved by the commercial last night, I went to youtube to listen to it again. At that time there were 300+ views. After reading your post today, I returned to find 1,018,635. People know something good when they see and hear it. Truly, a beautiful segment as are the others also, produced by Coca-Cola that probably came out producing THE commercial.